Access to Us Pediatric Inpatient Care Declining, Study Finds

A new study has found that pediatric inpatient capacity is decreasing in the U.S. and access to inpatient care is declining for many children, particularly those in rural areas. The study, “Availability of Pediatric Inpatient Services in the United States,” which will be published in the July 2021 issue of Pediatrics (published online June 14), looked at 4,720 U.S. hospitals using the 2008-2018 American Hospital Association Survey. Pediatric inpatient units decreased by 19.1% and pediatric inpatient beds decreased by 11.8%. Rural areas experienced steeper proportional declines in pediatric inpatient beds, and most states experienced decreases in both pediatric inpatient beds and pediatric inpatient days. Nearly one-quarter of U.S. children experienced an increase in distance to their nearest pediatric inpatient unit, the study found. Meanwhile, pediatric intensive care unit beds increased, primarily at children’s hospitals. New policy strategies could include designating key community centers as “pediatric critical access” with subsidies or higher reimbursement to encourage vulnerable pediatric centers to remain open, the authors conclude.

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The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults.